Elenna-nórë
by Lily Rae
Summary: Númenor: the mightiest kingdom of Men. In my re-telling, Lothíriel, princess of the Númenórean people and heir to the throne, was always destined for greatness. When a company of Dwarves arrive on their shores, her life is changed in more ways than one as she also fights to save Númenor from the tyrant King Tar-Pharazôn's wrath...this is her "coming of age" story.
1. The Original Author's Note

The Original Author's Note: A REMINDER THAT THIS STORY IS BEING RE-WRITTEN.

To my dear readers,

I am really, really sorry to disappoint you as I am aware that this is not a new chapter! But, I do need to say some thoughts I have had for a while now and I think it would be best if I told you all about it first before I continue with my new idea. Basically, I am having second thoughts with this story. Don't worry though, I am not deleting this story altogether, I just think a re-write is in order. I have started my second year of University and life is crazy - how do I balance my part time job, essays, laundry, housework, socialising, visiting family, maintaining my relationship, going to my exercise classes, having hobbies, etc?! (Oh being a student sucks sometimes!)

SO, what I want to do with what little time I have to write is to _not_ have to follow another film or a book, and so I figured with this story I could just focus on Lothíriel's life in Númenor and perhaps a story based around her coming of age, a rebellion, and of course featuring our favourite Dwarves and a romance too. I do want to incorporate them into my story as much as possible, and of course their Quest, just not in much detail as my original story would have, recounting the films and Tolkien's novel. I really, really, want to do a story about Númenor, it being called the greatest kingdom of Men, and I think I could write a interesting story on it! I am eager to begin re-writing Númenor's history once more :)

Whilst writing this note I have realised how much this would be a good idea for me and for you readers (my updates would be a hell of a lot better!) and so I will be deleting these chapters and replacing them, so the story WILL NOT be deleted, but the summary and photo and content of course will all be changed, to save you guys adding another story to your alerts/favourites, etc; it shall still appear in your inbox should you still be interested in this new development. If you do prefer a girl on a Quest story, I do have another one with my OC's Erin and Isaac, from our Earth, so check that out on my profile which will be updated when I get a chance in the near future.

Let me know of any thoughts/ideas/prompts etc if you can, what you all think would be great help :) thanks for reading this long author's note and thank you for being patient, wonderful readers whilst I get my stories back on track!

Lots of love, Lily.


	2. Chapter One - A Prologue, Of Sorts

Elenna-nórë

By Lily Rae

Chapter One—A Prologue, Of Sorts

_You are probably wondering who I am, and why I am writing this epic tale. Well, who I am is not important. But this saga __is__ important, and must not be forgotten. For it tells one important legend._

_The West-folk have always been considered the greatest of the Race of Men. Their island, shaped like a five-pointed star, was Númenor; the Isle of Kings. At its peak her glory was not rivalled; her naval empire was like no other and even the Elves bowed down to the Númenóreans. These High Men had achieved wonders that others could not—the Valar themselves even granted the Men of the West a lifespan greater than normal for fighting against Morgoth: three hundred years or so._

_Are you still not convinced of its greatness? Well, let's see—Númenor had her own language, Adunaic, and they also spoke Sindarin, taught to them of course by their close Elven allies. The kingdom was ruled by mighty Kings and Queens with the help of an executive branch: the Council of the Sceptre, composed of the Heir of the King or Queen and the lords or ladies from the six regions of Númenor. When a King or Queen inherited the throne they wore not a crown but carried the Sceptre of Annúminas._

_But enough of this; more will be learnt of Númenor as my story goes on. This will be told through the life of Lothíriel, princess of Númenor, destined to become Queen Tar-Ancalimë II. One feature of her extraordinary life I will reveal now is that she became the first Man to form an alliance with the Race of Dwarves and match her ancestor's feats in shaping the history of Middle-earth._

_Come, let us start from the beginning—a good place to start, I think._

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><p>The bells rang from dawn to dusk at the announcement of Lothíriel's birth. It was the first time in many, many years that a girl was born to the next in line to the throne. It was taken as a sign of good fortune; the people would have their Queen at last. Prince Galdor, to be King Tar-Pharazôn when his father dies, and his wife, the high lady Míriel, were the proud parents. A few days after the birth people from all over the Island flocked to the capital Armenelos to catch a glimpse of the newborn baby. The new parents stood on the steps of the King's House, next to the ancient White Tree Nimloth and waved to the excited crowd, whilst the bundle in Míriel's arms remained oblivious to all of her attention.<p>

Lothíriel soon became the older sister of a brother, Prince Eldacar II, and she was also a personal favourite of her Grandfather: King Tar-Minastir II. She travelled with him to Middle-earth many times, visiting Rivendell, Lórien, Gondor, Rohan...and many other places. He was a great explorer and expanded friendships and allies even further for Númenor. Lothíriel's favourite places as a child were the Bays of Eldanna and Andúnië; she loved greeting the ships as they returned with various treasures from Middle-earth.

The Princess was devastated when her beloved Grandfather died; she was thirty years old and still very young by their lifespan standards. But, Númenor continued on and her father Prince Galdor was to be crowned King, as was the Law. Lothíriel, Eldacar and Míriel stood at the entrance of the King's House, facing down the grand staircase. Lothíriel's long fair hair twirled down her back and her magnificent dress sported the Númenor crest. Her hands were clasped in front of her and her head was held high, for her people had arrived in the capital Armenelos in their thousands. The crowd was cheering as far back as the eye could see but the very important guests were at the front. There was Lord Elrond of Rivendell, the steward of Gondor, the King of Rohan...even the Lady Galadriel, her husband Celeborn, Gandalf and Saruman were here to watch the crowning of the new King.

Her father swept forward with a long robe on his back as the crowd watched with baited breath. He walked up the steps towards the Council of the Sceptre. Their leader placed the Sceptre into his hands and then he knelt down before them, pledging himself to his Kingdom. He rose, and turned to face his people. Then everybody else knelt down, to bow to the new ruler. Lothíriel and Eldacar did this too.

And the mighty Kingdom carried on as before, prospering and thriving. Lothíriel soon turned seventy and her first seventy years were pretty standard: travelling Númenor and getting to know her people, travelling Middle-earth, studying with her Professor and, of course, being a High Captain to the Númenoreon Army.

Everything changed on that fateful day in the year of TA 2941 when awful news was bought to her in the dead of night.

"**My lady**," her lady-in-waiting had said, breathing heavily and her eyes blood shot, "**the Queen Míriel...is dead**."

And something in King Tar-Pharazôn snapped that night, as he held his dead wife in his arms. _He was never the same again and Númenor would enter its darkest age._

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><p><span>AN:

So, what did you all think of my new take on this story? Please let me know! :) The next chapter will be the proper start of the story and at the end (possibly) will have the introduction of our favourite Company of Dwarves too ;) thank you so much readers, I really, really, do hope you enjoyed this!


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